Other appointments may have attracted more attention across the increasingly star-studded realm of international managers. It is hardly Sebastien Pocognoli’s fault, though, that unlike Jurgen Klopp or Zinedine Zidane or Thomas Tuchel or Carlo Ancelotti he is not yet a Champions League winning coach, armed with a CV that contains titles and trophies at Europe’s biggest clubs. At 39, the Belgian is at the start of his managerial career, rather than approaching the end, having overseen just 107 senior games in spells at two clubs, Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco.
But look around the countries embracing a fresh start following the summer’s World Cup and there is an argument that the challenge facing Pocognoli with Scotland is the most compelling of all. That the Scottish Football Association has embraced the opportunity for a clean slate with such a bold and left-field choice, following seven years of playing safe under the risk-averse Steve Clarke, is notable in itself; Pocognoli has been charged with taking Scotland in a new direction, just at the moment when the options available to the Scotland manager have undergone a drastic change.
